All The Little Moments (20 page)

This was a subject Anna knew she should not have pushed. Finally turning around, Anna pulled her mother into her arms when she saw the tears threatening to spill. For a minute, they rocked back and forth. Beneath her hands, her mother felt
skinnier, frailer.

“Sorry.”

Sandra shook her head against Anna’s shoulder, then stepped back, sniffing and wiping at her eyes. “No, I’m sorry. He’s hard, at the moment. Hard to
be around.”

One of the many reasons Jake had put her in this position. Choosing not to say this, Anna rubbed
Sandra’s arm.

“Come here whenever you need, Mum. Or take the kids. They love sleepovers with you, and they used to do it at least once every
two weeks.”

“Back to their routine. It might be good
for them.”

Anna winked. “That, and you love having
them there.”

“Of course.”

Ella burst back into the room. “Nurse Lane’s here! Nurse Lane’s here! I saw her car! Nurse
Lane’s here!”

“Inside
voice, Ella.”

Ella stage-whispered, “Nurse Lane
is here!”

At the sound of his sister’s voice, Toby had run around the kitchen bench and now stood looking at them all with wide
blue eyes.

“Okay, when the doorbell rings, you may answer it.
 
But
,” Anna yelled after her as Ella bolted from the room, “ask who
it is!”

Toby wavered and fell onto his nappied bottom. The whirlwind that was Ella was too much for him to try and focus on as he followed her too quickly with his head, feet tangling when he tried to turn, and then lost his balance. Surprised blue eyes blinked at Anna, and then he burst into
a giggle.

Shaking her head, Anna picked him up. “You’re a
dork, Tobes.”

She handed him a piece of tomato he’d undoubtedly smear everywhere, kissing his cheek before plopping him back on the ground. Tiny feet carried him out of the room, one hand squashing the whole piece of tomato into
his mouth.

The
doorbell rang.

Ella yelled, “Who is it!” while wrenching the door open at the
same time.

“Ella, it’s not effective if you open the door before they even hear the question, let alone answer!” Anna
called out.

“Nurse Lane!”
Ella squealed.

“I wouldn’t
bother, Anna.”

As usual, her mother was right, and Anna turned back to putting the finishing touches on the salad. The sound of Toby’s feet pattering on the tile as he ran back in made her turn. He reached up to her,
eyes anxious.

Sandra chuckled behind her. “Oh, Tobes. Did you follow your sister and see a stranger in
the hallway?”

He looked from Anna to the direction of the front door, then
pointed. “El!”

“She’s not a stranger; you met her the other day. Let’s investigate,
shall we?”

As they moved towards the front door, they heard the quiet sound of Lane’s voice, followed by Ella’s louder and more excitable one. Toby pointed the entire way, showing her where
to go.

“Are they out
here, Toby?”

Face serious, he nodded,
still pointing.

They rounded the corner to see Ella literally hanging off Lane, pointing to all the new writing and drawing on her cast. Kids had started to draw over what was
already there.

Nodding at what Ella was saying, Lane looked up, grinning under her lashes
at Anna.

As Lane’s smile hit them at full force, Toby stilled in Anna’s arms. Right there and then, Anna realised that this woman was going to have them all under her spell if she
wasn’t careful.

Lane mouthed a “hi” and Anna waved
her fingers.

“It’s
Lane, Tobes.”

Barely looking up from her cast, Ella said, “
Nurse
 
Lane,
Aunty Na.”

Winking, Lane nodded. “Yeah, Aunty Na.
 
Nurse
 
Lane.”

“Oh, my mistake.” Anna looked at Toby’s face as he stared openly at Lane, mouth slightly parted—he looked comical. “Hey, Ella Bella, fairly certain you didn’t finish setting
the table.”

“But
I
 
did
.”

“Glasses? And cutlery? Toby’s cup and your
Transformer glass?”

“Um...”

“Scoot, missy. Lane’s here for all
of dinner.”

Sighing loudly, Ella turned to Lane. “Excuse me, Nurse Lane, I’ll
be back.”

With an amused purse of her lips, Lane watched her go before looking back to Anna. “You know, she has a lot of you
in her.”

“Don’t
you start.”

Lane looked at Toby, who was still staring at her, wide eyed. “Hey again, Toby. I like
your shoes.”

Instantly, Toby kicked his feet against Anna’s thigh and the new Velcro do-ups lit up along the soles. Finally grinning at Lane, he pointed down to his shoes. “Na!” Toby stared at them for a second, leg held out and still pointing, then looked back
to Lane.

“Aunty Na got them for you?
Spoilt boy.”

At Toby’s adamant wriggle, Anna put him down. He clung to her hand with one of his own tiny ones and jumped, a motion he couldn’t quite manage without holding onto something. When his shoes lit up again, he squealed, pointing
to them.

“How
cool, Toby!”

Letting go of Anna’s hand, Toby turned and ran, giggling as he disappeared into
the kitchen.

“Where on earth is
he going?”

“He has the attention span of a gnat. Who
knows where?”

“At least he liked me
this time.”

“He’s a smart man: he figures a lady
out first.”

“Wonder where he gets
that from.”

“Whatever. Hi, by
the way.”

Closing some of the distance between them, Lane held the bottle of wine. “Hey, here.” She hovered a minute, smiling softly
at Anna.

They both took a small step towards each other, and Anna almost closed her eyes at the sensation of Lane’s breath on her lips. Despite wanting to kiss her, Anna forced herself to
pull back.

“Later,”
she whispered.

Lane’s eyes lit up like
Toby’s shoes.

There was no way Lane could stay, or
 
that
 
could happen. But that didn’t mean Anna wasn’t going to abuse some boundaries, now that Lane
was here.

“Ready to meet
my mother?”

Lane’s eyes
widened. “Sure.”

“Your voice always that
high pitched?”

“Shut up.”

Laughing, Anna led the way to the kitchen, where her mother was cutting up the lasagne in
the pan.

“Mum, this is Lane. Lane, this is my
mum, Sandra.”

Wiping her hands on a tea towel, Sandra walked around
the bench.

“Nice to meet you,
Mrs Foster.”

Sandra stopped in front of Lane, grinning, and wrapped her in
a hug.

Sometimes her mother made Anna wince. However, she smiled at Lane as she caught her eye over Sandra’s shoulder. Lane’s hand awkwardly patted Sandra’s back for a moment before she
pulled away.

“Call me Sandra. Lovely to meet you, Lane. I’ve heard a lot
about you.”

Avidly avoiding Lane’s smirking look, Anna added another time to the list of the moments her mother drove her crazy. She hadn’t spoken of Lane that much, but Ella must have been blurting out details. Or maybe Anna had said a thing or two without meaning to. But definitely not
a lot.

“I hope it’s
all good.”

“You helped fix my granddaughter’s arm, of course it’s all good. And you got my daughter out of
the house.”

“Okay!” Anna interrupted, clapping her hands together. “How about we eat? Lane brought over an amazing red, Mum. Would you like a glass? I might stick
with white.”

After successfully getting everybody moving and mock-glaring at her mother, Anna led the way to the dining room. Predictably, Ella insisted on sitting next to “Nurse Lane.” Anna wrestled Toby into his high chair next to her, so she could help him eat when needed. Instantly, he sunk down into the seat, trying to hold his foot out for Lane to admire his shoe. He kept kicking it against the leg of the chair and yelling a nonsensical word, making sure everyone acknowledged it
lighting up.

Anna regretted buying
those shoes.

Ella dominated most of the conversation, and thankfully, Toby discovered a love for lasagne and dug in with his spoon and hands, mostly distracted from
his shoes.

In between Ella’s chattering, Sandra questioned Lane without even trying to hide what she
was doing.

“So, Lane, where did you
grow up?”

Lane looked from Toby, who was again pointing at his shoe. “Yeah, Tobes, they’re really cool.” She took a sip of wine, measuring her answer. “I grew up here, though I moved from the US when I
was ten.”

“Anna mentioned that. What did your
parents do?”

“Mum.” The look Anna threw her mother could silence even Ella, but Sandra
was unfazed.

Lane chuckled at the exchange. “My father’s an accountant, my mum stayed at home with us kids, but then worked in my dad’s company, helping in
the office.”

Toby, who had managed to get lasagne sauce in his hair, threw his spoon on the floor, grinning as he waited for Anna to pick it up. Handing it back to him with a look that clearly said this wasn’t a game, she considered wiping him down. In the end, she thought better of it, figuring she would just be doing it all over again at the end of
the meal.

After dessert, Sandra stood up and started clearing dishes. Anna and Lane attempted to help, but Sandra waved them away and instead enlisted Ella, who joined in with only
minor grumbling.

Anna grinned across the table at Lane, sipping her second glass
of wine.

“Welcome to my crazy world.” It wasn’t all a joke. Did Lane really know what she was getting
herself into?

“They’re adorable.”

“Na!” Toby hit his spoon against his plastic bowl, which he’d turned over on his high
chair table.

Anna poked him gently in the stomach. “Time to clean you up,
little man.”

“No.” Toby’s little face scrunched up and his eyebrows
pushed together.

Lane gave a snort of laughter at his petulant expression, which Anna ignored. She poked his side again. “No?” she
asked playfully.

Giggling now, he still managed
a, “No!”

“I’ll be right back, Lane. Grab another glass of wine if you want.” Anna left Lane playing with Toby’s shoe, which he had just remembered; the sight made
her smile.

In the kitchen, her mother was elbow deep in suds and Ella stood on a footstool quietly, doing her best to dry
the dishes.

“Working hard,
Ella Bella?”

“Grandma’s telling me about how when you were little, you were just
like me.”

Anna squeezed between them to run water over a cloth. “Is that so? It seems to be the theme of
the evening.”

With a nudge, Sandra said, “Well, your influence is making it
more prevalent.”

Resisting the urge to roll her eyes again, Anna dropped a kiss on Ella’s head and started to walk back out. Her mother’s voice followed her. “Lane’s lovely, by
the way.”

“Thanks, Mum.”

“Nurse Lane is cool, not
 
lovely
, Grandma.”

“Right, sorry.”

When she re-entered the dining room, Toby was relaxed and quiet on Lane’s lap, playing with the fine chain around her neck. He had settled right into her arms, little legs draped
over hers.

“He got fidgety, I hope
that’s okay.”

“Of course.” Anna didn’t want to word how much the sight made her want
to melt.

The glass next to Lane was still empty. “Didn’t want
another glass?”

She shook her head.
“I’m driving.”

Anna squatted down next to Lane’s chair, surprise-cleaning Toby’s face, which was the only way to manage it. If he saw the cloth coming, he bolted as fast as his little legs could take him. She quickly cleaned his hands, and, by that point, he was a squirming mess, sliding off Lane’s lap and running to the living room to
his toys.

Shoes lighting up as he left, Lane watched him go. “He really does look like you.
It’s uncanny.”

Anna smiled softly, still squatting, hands resting on Lane’s thigh. “He looks like Jake. People really did confuse us
for twins.”

A sigh left Anna’s lips as Lane ran fingers through her hair, the look in her eyes soft as she asked, “Would it be weird to say I wish I could have
met him?”

Anna leant her chin on top of Lane’s thigh, too, looking up at her. “No. I think he would have really
liked you.”

The door to the kitchen
swung open.

Anna stood bolt upright, taking a step back from Lane, but Ella noticed nothing out of the ordinary as she
walked in.

“It’s not a school night—can Nurse Lane stay and watch a DVD
with us?”